Many US companies' EOFY is Oct 31st. Could be related... Prop up the balance sheet with some time in hand to manipulate other numbers before the books officially close.
Most US airlines e.g. American, United etc and hotel companies e.g. Hilton, Hyatt, Starwood etc have a calendar fiscal year end at Dec 31. So Q3 reporting ends Sept 30.
The US govt fiscal year end is Sept 30 and they may set new travel allowance rates and per diems effective Oct 1.
Usually, there would be a promotion program calendar set when the sales, marketing etc budgets are done, which are revised as the year goes on depending on how effective the promotion programs are.
How long do the promotions generally run for? Depending how long promotions run for, it may be an Oct 15 end date gives enough time to assess the promotion effectiveness, then make any adjustments or new promotions before the fiscal year end at Dec 31.
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